Evening Extra Magic Hours wristbands

[babyboy443]

Hi Everyone! Im going to WDW last week of January & i will be taking advantage of the evening extra magic hours for the 1st time. So i have a question for you guys.....

Where in each park can i get the wristbands & at what time?

Any help would be awesome :king:

 

[brertigger]

There are a number of distribution stations all around the park. At MK, there is one in Tomorrowland (near Entrance), one at Main Gate, one on Main Street and many others that I don't remember the locations. At EPCOT, they were in the breezeways near Innoventions, and probably more locations. I have never done an EMH at the other parks. There will be large signs to direct you, and most CMs will be able to help you out.

Officially, the wristbands go out 2 hours prior to park closing, although I have frequently seen them out 3-4 hours prior to park closing.

You will be required to have a room card for each person in your group swiped in a magnetic card reader to ensure you belong.

Have fun!

 

[babyboy443]

Thank you soo much :wave:

 

[brertigger]

Glad to help out.

A few other EMH tips:
-If there are two parades, the second one will usually be less crowded.
-If you have already seen the parade, ride the rides! During last weeks EMH @ Magic Kingdom, all the rides were virtually walk ons.
-About 1.5hrs after EMH hours starts, you can tell that many people have left and the lines continue to reduce (at least when I have been there)

 

[Mori Anne]

Do you have to have a wrist band to be able to stay for the extra magic hours, or do you just have to have a room key?

 

[cherrynegra]

Do you have to have a wrist band to be able to stay for the extra magic hours, or do you just have to have a room key?

What I experienced earlier this month was that they scan your room key to make sure you are a current resort guest and then they place the wristband on you. You do need the bands as I saw park guests without them blocked from entering rides and shops. As my friend said after the process, "Now that we've been tagged and identified, we are now free to run loose around the park.":lol:

 

[LilDucky]

When do they stop handing out the wristbands for EMH? Will they continue to pass them out at the main gates, even when the park has closed for other guests?

 

[brertigger]

They will continue to distribute them well into the event. The main gates of the MK park were still open 30 minutes prior to EMH closing, and there were still CMs ready to check your room key at that point. Probably, as the night gets later, there would be a few less spots to get a wristband, but there will be a location somewhere in the park, more than likely.

EDIT: My 50th post!!

 

[ajrwdwgirl]

When I was there this summer, at the MK, we got our wristbands in Liberty Square, next to the Haunted Mansion. We also saw them giving them out near Pirates. If you check the WDW.com website it will tell you where to pick them up at each park.

Also when we were there all we had to do was show our card. I guess that they had people abusing the system and needed to do card readers.

 

[timetoknowbe]

i got wristbands across from the winnie the pooh attraction in fantasyland. it was pretty empty. the line in tomorrowland was packed.


i guess this is obvious to everyone else, but just a bit of advice.
if you go early in the morning, and stay all day. forget extra magic hours.
extra magic hours hurt.
really bad.
we got to the park at opening. stayed the entire time, rushing around. and tried to stay for extra magic hours. we managed to barely make it through the line for dumbo before limping out of the park and passing out in our room.
horrible experience.

 

[KYMouseFan]

They will continue to distribute them well into the event. The main gates of the MK park were still open 30 minutes prior to EMH closing, and there were still CMs ready to check your room key at that point. Probably, as the night gets later, there would be a few less spots to get a wristband, but there will be a location somewhere in the park, more than likely.

So,you don't have to be already inside the park offering (evening) EMH? You can show up at the main entrance after that park has officially "closed" to all guests, present your resort ticket, and enter for EMH?

 

[Captain Hank]

So,you don't have to be already inside the park offering (evening) EMH? You can show up at the main entrance after that park has officially "closed" to all guests, present your resort ticket, and enter for EMH?

Yup. Wristbands at the main gate and somewhere inside the park will be available right up until the end of the EMH event. You don't need to be in the EMH park when the event starts to take advantage of the EMH benefit. In fact, if you're not planning on doing the mega E-ticket attractions, like Soarin', for the EMH, I'd actually suggest waiting a little while after the park closes to non-resort guests, then enter with little to no wait for your wristband, and you won't have to deal with the stream of day guests exiting the park. Plus, especially at the MK, the crowds appreciably dissapate during the EMH, so it is much less crowded as the event goes on.

As for staying all day at the park, I definately wouldn't recommend it. Might I suggest being there for opening, then riding some of your favorite attractions, and those not offered for the EMH, then leaving the park in the afternoon and resting up until just a little while before the EMH starts. I really think you'll have a much better experience.

 

[ErickainPA]

Do you have to have a wrist band to be able to stay for the extra magic hours, or do you just have to have a room key?

A CM at the MK was up at the castle when the doors opened for the Extra Hours after the stage show was done for the night. She told us that we need a wristband to go on any rides after midnight (the park was open until 3am that day) When you enter the rides entrance there is a CM that looks to make sure you have a band. Each guest has their room key scanned and then you get a band. We got ours at MK near Tomorrowland down near the water.

Epcot had a sign out around 4 for the bands, we asked the CM when they were being given out and she said starting at 7 that night and the extra hours were until 2 am

 

[noname70]

Hypothetical Question: If you were staying off property, couldn't you simply stay in the park during Evening Extra magic Hours (shop, eat, etc) with no wristband, as long as you didn't try to ride any attractions?

 

[brertigger]

Hypothetical Question: If you were staying off property, couldn't you simply stay in the park during Evening Extra magic Hours (shop, eat, etc) with no wristband, as long as you didn't try to ride any attractions?

More than likely yes, although after a point security may help you to the exit of the park. For awhile, they should let you shop on Main Street.

 

[ErickainPA]

We were told that you could stay in the park without a band for up to 1 hour after offical park closing, but if security saw you, they would escort you to the exit. They are trying to keep Extra hours as a perk for staying on property.

 

[Ralphlaw]

Wristband nightmare

I had the wristband experience from hell last November at Disney-MGM Studios. We had just seen Fantasmic, and my 6 year old was too tired to walk, but still wanted to ride Star Tours one more time. We promised one more ride if he refrained from whining at the end of a long fun day.

So I'm hauling a 45 pound boy on my shoulders from Fantasmic over to Star Tours. It was Extra Magic Hour, so we found out we needed a wristband once we got to Star Tours. Annoying, but a wristband center was allegedly somewhere close to 'Sounds Dangerous'. Unfortunately, it wasn't, because the Soap Opera Weekend concert was messing with the wristband electronics. Nobody knew what was going on. Finally, after walking all the way back to the front of the park, we got our wristbands. By that point, my back was broken, my son is nearly crying, and I am cursing anyone who has anything to do with Soap Operas. I went from Sleepy to Grumpy and needing a Doc by the end of this ordeal. Not our happiest celebration of the trip.

Suggestion, put a big sign by the wristband centers, and put the locations on the park map. They're really hard to find after it gets dark, especially when you're tired and kind of dumb to begin with.

 

[TomorrowlandOps]

Wristbands are distributed at the following locations, but like others have said in previous posts, the main entrance location stays open the entire time as others may close down.

Magic Kingdom:
Main Entrance
Caribbean Plaza, near the El Pirata y El Perico Restaurante
Castle Rose Garden on the Tomorrowland Bridge
The Liberty Square Riverboat Landing
The Timekeeper
Across from "The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh"

Epcot:
Main Entrance
Future World East and West Breezeways
Mexico Bridge
International Gateway

Studios:
Main Entrance
ABC-TV Theatre
next to the Studio Catering Company
Rock 'n' Roller Coaster Courtyard

Animal Kingdom:
Main Entrance
It's Tough to be a Bug FASTPASS Distribution
Harambe School in Africa
Kali River Rapids FASTPASS Distribution
Dinoland USA - Near the Bone Yard

Hope this helps!